Give Me Hope to Rely On
by koorimechick
Summary: A story of lost hope and how a little help from a reliable friend can help recover it. Takeru/Jyou. Slash. Yaoi. Mature Adult Content.


**I do not own Digimon or any of its characters. **

**Summary: A story of lost hope and how a little help from a reliable friend can help recover it. Takeru/Jyou. Slash. Yaoi. Mature Adult Content. **

**For a good friend of mine, Zolin. I love you. And I dearly hope this meets expectations.**

**Chapter One **

* * *

"Mom, I'm home!"

There was no answer. There never was. There was, however, three messages flashing on their phone base. They were left unheard. Takeru had no need for his mother's explanation. He didn't care why she wasn't home. Already, his joy was gone. Though he'd had a fun night that night, he should've known his happiness wouldn't stick. That would've been too much to ask for. He'd felt the depression seep into his pores the very second he'd opened the door to his house.

Slowly he lifted his hand to flip the light switch up. The room was flooded with brightness. He turned to the kitchen and did the same thing and continued the task throughout the house. Soon he found himself at his mother's stay-at-home office. It was the only light he left off.

"Guess what, Mom? Yomato's concert was awesome. He wrote a song about us. He and Taichi took me out to eat, and we hung out at Jyou's place after the concert with all the rest of the guys. Hikari was there. She wanted to know how you've been."

Takeru rolled his eyes at the idea of having an actual conversation with the woman. She was too busy with her own life to hear about his.

His feet brought him to her desk, and his fingers traced her laptop. His eyes wondered, and he froze at an object he saw on her desk. It was as if he lost control of his hand as it reached out to grab the open pack of cigarettes. He brought one of the soft sticks to his lips and then applied the use of his mother's forgotten lighter.

Takeru placed the pack of cigarettes back exactly where they had lain and took his lit one with him as he went back through the house to turn the lights off again. His bedroom was the first to go off followed by the rest.

He found himself sitting on the sofa staring at the blank television screen. He coughed as he inhaled too deeply and held it too long. It was completely by accident. He hadn't truly been paying attention to the cigarette between his fingers.

The rough choke ended easily enough though. The first time he'd taken a drag was much worse, after all. He absent-mindedly wondered what it would be like to smoke something stronger, something with more affects. He knew Yamato had tried marijuana once, but his brother never mentioned it to him more than he had to. Takeru frowned, recognizing that he would soon be on the path to the drug, probably already was.

The phone rang, but Takeru did not move from his spot on the sofa. It rang five more times, and the recorded voices came over the speaker on the base.

"This is Takaishi Natsuko!"

"And this Takaishi Takeru!" God, he sounded so young. They made that years ago. "We can't come to the phone right now," his voice continued.

"But if you leave your name and number, we'll get back to you!" his mother finished. Then there was a shrill beep which made Takeru wince. He eyed the wall, listening, but not really caring.

"Takaishi Takeru!" His back straightened as he stiffened at his mother's stern tone. "Why don't you have your cell phone turned on? Are you not home yet?" Takeru looked down, slightly ashamed for not calling her. She giggled, and he heard the muffled voice of a man. His eyes narrowed. The shame disappeared when she apparently returned. "You better get straight to bed! When you get this message, just know you are grounded!"

The phone clicked off, and he narrowed his eyes at it, seething. How dare she tell him what to do? She was hardly home anyway. She was always gone with some guy. He couldn't help but question if she truly even cared about him.

His cigarette had gone out on him as it had burned down to the filter. He laid it in the ash tray which sat on a side table by the couch. Takeru stood, and like a zombie, he made his way into his room. He yanked open his dresser drawer. His dresser was taller than him, and he had to stand on his tiptoes to reach into the top right drawer. He blindly felt around, but couldn't find what he was looking.

He looked around and dragged his computer chair over to the place he needed it. He stood up on it and peered into the drawer. It wasn't the best hiding place, but it worked. His mother never attempted to get into it, not that she really cared to go through his things. And the few friends he had over never thought to have a look inside.

Inside the drawer were a few articles of clothing, stuff he'd outgrown mainly. The pullover he'd worn the first time to the digital world lay inside along with a few of his favorite hats. After rummaging around in the drawer for a short time, he came across a Ziploc baggie. It was empty, but below it, on the bottom of the drawer, there was a small blue pill.

He stared at the bag for a moment, stunned that what had been inside was actually gone. He gazed at the blue pill for only a second before snatching it and popping it into his mouth. He swallowed quickly and ran to the kitchen to get a drink of water to go with it.

He leaned against the kitchen sink. Was the blue pill the only one that had escaped the bag?

_Now, remember, it only works if you take both the blue _and _the white pill!_

The bag was clutched in Takeru's hand as he made his way back to his bedroom and the top drawer. But as much as he looked, he never found any other pill than that blue one. He scowled, as if blaming the drawer, before slamming it shut.

The pills worked like he wanted them to. They made him forget his depression for a little while, but he suddenly highly doubted the effectiveness of the blue pill without the white pill. He needed more, he thought.

So he finally flipped open his cell phone for the night. There were missed calls and texts in his inbox. He scanned them. His mom, his mom, Yamato, his mom, Hikari… He had no messages from the guy he wanted messages from. Hurriedly, he called the number. The ringback tone was an upbeat new hit.

"_Hey! What is up?"_

"DAISUKE!" Takeru nearly shouted. His eyes were wide, and he felt an overwhelming urge to just giggle at what was happening. He could laugh at fate and laugh at his mom for being so silly to worry over him because it was going to be okay. Life would be okay. He let out a chuckle.

"_Ah… Gotcha! Yeah, so I'm not here. But, hey, you know what to do! BEEP!" _The electronic woman came over the receiver to inform Daisuke's caller how to leave a message.

Takeru screamed in outrage. He hung up and dialed again. It was the third call that Daisuke finally answered.

"What," he huffed into the phone, "do you want?"There was a gasp, and then Daisuke moaned. Takeru was overcome with glee. He was glad Daisuke was actually getting some tonight, but he had more important business.

"Dai! Stop fucking whoever you are fucking, and tell me something!" Takeru rushed out.

It seemed there was a pause on Daisuke's end. "I'm not fucking anyone…" Takeru rolled his eyes. He could mentally see Daisuke shake himself for a moment. "Look, Teeks—"

"Don't call me that."

"What do you want? I'm busy."

"Obviously! Daisuke, where did you get those pills? Do you have anymore?" Takeru was gripping his phone so tight, he thought it might break.

"T-Takeru… _Stop it, will you?_ …Why do you want to know? I only gave you those as a joke."

"Just curious, Daisuke."

"You didn't seriously take them, did you? I thought you were going to throw them away."

Takeru laughed on purpose this time. "Of course I didn't take them, Daisuke! I flushed them. What do you think of me? I only wanted to know so I could tell Yamato the full story."

There was a long pause, and Takeru didn't think the lie worked for a second. There was the sound of another person from the other side of conversation that was definitely not Daisuke. Daisuke mumbled something so quietly Takeru didn't hear. "Some guy just jumped out at me on Old Lyon Street. You know…that trashy place. I was going to a really good pizza place by there. Anyway, the guy looked shot up on something. He said I looked depressed. Takeru, I've already told you this."

Takeru nodded, knowing Daisuke wouldn't see him. "Yeah, I remember the rest. I guess one of the pills fell out of the bag or something, because Yamato found one on my bathroom floor and asked me about it. I couldn't remember all of it at the time, but I do now! Thanks!"

"Yeah, well… You're welcome. I can testify for you if you'd like." Daisuke still sounded unsure, but Takeru didn't mind. He had what he needed.

"I think I'll take you up on that if he doesn't believe me."

"_Daisuke…can we go on now?" _Takeru heard Daisuke whimper. It sounded horribly like he trying to stay quiet.

Takeru laughed again. "Have fun, Dai!" he chirped then hung up the phone.

Thirty minutes later found Takeru wondering around Old Lyon Street. He was jittery, and every few seconds, one of his hands would twitch in anticipation. Why was no one jumping out to offer him pills?

"Hey, Sweetheart," a voice finally purred in his ear. There was a hand on his shoulder, and it started to rub up and down his arm. "You look lonely."

Takeru turned to look at her. The woman's bangs were cut straight above her eyes, and her black hair just fell to her shoulders. She would've looked normal had it not been for her attire and makeup. She was scantily clad, and her eyes were lined darkly – perhaps to make the dark circles beneath her brown orbs blend in.

"Depressed more like," Takeru answered. He felt a thrill run through him. He hadn't truly felt adrenaline since he had been actively involved in saving the digital world. He welcomed it with open arms.

And on the topic of arms, Takeru only showed a little surprise when a strong pair wrapped around him from behind. Something hard pressed into his lower back, and he knew very well what that had to be.

"I'd take a back seat with this one, Yukina. He seems like the kind that would prefer my company," the man holding him laughed. The arms felt possessive and were quite muscular. Takeru knew he'd never be able to beat this man in a hand to hand fight. The thought made him quiver in excitement, and he felt himself leaning back into the embrace.

The girl named Yukina laughed too. It was almost a childish sound. She couldn't be much older than Takeru, maybe Yamato's age at most. Eighteen was quite young to be on the streets.

"He said he was depressed," she giggled. She inserted three fingers into her cleavage with Takeru watching the entire time. How ironic, he thought, that she pulled out exactly what he wanted. She pressed both the blue and white pill to Takeru's lips gently, and he gladly swallowed them.

Takeru closed his eyes and inhaled in relief. He thought he'd never get them. But what about later? Then the girl pressed her lips to his. "There's more where that came from," she told him.

"If you come with us," the man finished for her. This time his voice was huskier and much more seductive. His hand snaked lower and began to message Takeru through his pants.

For the first time, Takeru looked at the man. His eyes were lined yet not as thickly as Yukina's. His hair was dyed red and matted. It didn't appear to have been washed in a few days. The man hadn't shaved either, and his jaw stung when Takeru lifted his fingers to touch it. And somehow, Takeru couldn't make himself care. He'd do whatever this man wanted for those pills. They helped him, and he needed them. He looked back at the girl and nodded.

Takeru didn't know where they took him. After all, this wasn't a part of the city that he frequently visited. He did know that it was dusky, and there were no lights. The three ended up in a small room which only contained a bed and small desk.

The other two wasted no time in getting to business. They stood in the middle of the room. The man, whose name Takeru discovered to be Sadao, was behind the small blonde, grinding into his backside. Yukina dropped to her knees and began to undo Takeru's pants.

She released his hard cock from its constraints. She grabbed the organ in one hand and gave a tug. Takeru moaned loudly. He was in ecstasy; that was for sure. The blue pill had managed to get Takeru away from the depression, but it hadn't made him as happy as they both did. He had still been very aware of the situation his life had been in when he had come onto the street. But now, his life at home alone was gone, and he was floating around somewhere where he couldn't be touched.

Rough fingers gripped his hips and pushed his bottoms the rest of the way down. He cried out as he felt twin sensations of oral pleasure. Yukina took his hardness into her mouth at the same time that Sadao spread his cheeks to lick his hole. Takeru had a hand twisted in each of the strangers' hair. He pulled as the feeling mounted.

Yukina chuckled around his cock at which he had to say, "Fuck!" He didn't think Sadao's tongue could possibly delve any deeper. Oh, but he wanted it to. This was all new to him. He'd never done _anything_ like this before. As intense as it was, his body was curious and screamed for more. But both Yukina and Sadao pulled away. He whimpered.

"Relax, baby. We don't want you coming yet. The fun's just barely even started," Yukina informed him. His eyes focused on her. He opened his mouth to speak only to have Sadao press a finger into him. He frowned slightly, most definitely not used to the feeling. It wasn't a good sensation, not at all. The finger pressed deeper, and he'd realized he'd thought too soon. A short, strangled cry attempted to escape his throat, but Yukina grabbed his cock and began to stroke again.

When Sadao's finger curled inside of him, Takeru felt his breath leave him. His eyes began to water, and he tried to focus solely on Yukina. Her breath was coating his cock so he didn't care when another of Sadao's fingers were added. He simply let the small thrusting motions push him more into Yukina's face. She took his head between her lips and tongued the slit at the tip. His eyes closed in bliss.

"Yummy," she whispered. "Pre-cum." She giggled. Sadao's fingers were replaced with his tongue again.

"Aahhn," Takeru whined. He had no control over himself anymore. He couldn't stop gasping and moaning. Sadao chuckled, and he and Yukina stood to remove Takeru's shirt together. They stepped back.

Takeru's eyes shot open. Yukina was stripping. He turned to find Sadao doing the same. He didn't want to think about what was going to happen with the man, so he turned to watch only Yukina. As he did so, he stepped the rest of the way out of his own pants.

Yukina sauntered over to the bed and sat down on the edge of it with her legs spread. She held a hand out to Takeru, and he gladly walked over to take it. She placed his eager hands on her breasts and grabbed his hips to position him at her slit. He thrust into her, all too ready.

Takeru froze when she gasped, and he started to pull out. However, he couldn't stop his hands from massaging her breasts and teasing her nipples. She leaned up to wrap her arms around his neck and urge him into her again.

At first, he wasn't sure what he should do, but then he screamed as Sadao entered him from behind. The man's fingers were nothing compared to the size of his prick. The force pressed Takeru into Yukina, and the two tumbled to the bed. Yukina's arms were still like vice grips keeping him in place on top of her while Sadao went to work behind him.

Takeru came quickly, but Sadao and Yukina were far from sated. They kept the young boy locked between them as they were just getting started. Their activities increased in speed, and Takeru's cheeks dripped with tears. It was his first time with either a man or a woman. It hurt, but it felt good, and this was simply overwhelming. It wasn't about his pleasure; it was about all of their pleasure. Sadao continued, and so Takeru was made to continue. Yukina and he cried out together repeatedly, their voices like a song in the night with Sadao's grunts being the background vocals.

Takeru's muscles tightened as he reached orgasm for the second time during their ministrations, and it was Sadao's seed filling him that completely pushed him over the edge. He wasn't sure if Yukina had finished or not, but Sadao eventually stopped thrusting. Yukina's breath soon returned to normal, and the three lay there until Takeru's sobs subsided.

Sadao pulled out of Takeru – leaving him feeling surprisingly empty – and lay to the side of Yukina. Yukina helped him position Takeru between them so they were all on their sides. Takeru held Yukina nearly possessively, their chests pressed against one another. Sadao's arms were wrapped around both. Takeru could feel semen trailing from his anus, wondered if there was blood with it, realized he didn't necessarily care.

"Still depressed?" Sadao asked Takeru. Takeru noticed the older man's hands were stroking his hair lovingly. Yukina was rubbing his arms comfortingly.

Takeru shook his head. "Not at the moment, but I will be later." He sighed sounding hilariously wistful. "I always am."

Sadao smiled against Takeru's hair. He leaned forward to kiss the blonde's temple. "Well, I hope we can help you with that."

Takeru's eyes widened as a thought occurred. "Those pills! I want more! Where did you get them?"

Yukina tilted her head to look at Takeru thoughtfully. "That seems like what you wanted from the start. Are you a friend of Lee's?"

Takeru shot her a questioning gaze. "Lee? No… A friend of mine – you probably wouldn't know him – gave them to me. He told me he got them from here. That's it."

Sadao laughed. "That's it? Does he come often?"

Takeru flushed in embarrassment. He felt like a child playing with fire when he didn't know how to light a match. "Well, actually, he just said a guy jumped out in front of him and shoved the pills in his hand."

Sadao again broke into chortles. Yukina joined him this time. "That's Lee," she explained to Takeru with a grin on her face. "He's a little crazy."

"Crazy is understating it. He's psycho," Sadao added earning a giggle from Yukina.

"No one even has to pay him," Yukina told Takeru seriously. "I don't know where he gets the pills from. He just gives them to whoever asks. But here," she untangled herself from Takeru's arms. His grip tightened for a second until his brain caught up with what she was doing, and he let go.

Naked, Yukina made her way to the desk and pulled from it three large bags of pills. Red, yellow, green, blue, white. There were so many colors. Takeru's mind swam with the possibilities of each pill. Yukina then turned to pick a bag up off the floor. Takeru realized that was the bag he brought with him. He had dropped it when they stripped him.

At that thought, he couldn't help but look down. Sadao's arm was still around him, and he was suddenly aware of how nude he was. Takeru grasped at the bedspread and tried to subtly cover at least his nether regions.

Sadao hand suddenly grabbed his wrist roughly. "Hey there," he chuckled, "we've already fucked you. Why go all shy on us now?"

Yukina looked up from her task of separating blue and white pills from the rest and smiled slightly before finishing the job. "I think he was a virgin, Sadao. Leave him be," she said quietly.

"I know he was." Sadao grinned predatorily at Takeru, and Takeru felt like a rabbit trapped in a wolf's den. "But he's much prettier without the comforter."

Takeru's face turned red, and he was saved from answering by Yukina. She dropped his newly refilled bag in front of his face. He snatched it before the pills had even a chance to settle, and he sat up, gasping at the pain as he did so.

He eyed his bottoms on the floor and used to his foot to pull them over to the bed. "Thanks. I really need to go home now. My mom's probably worried." She wasn't. He knew it. But he still had a little bit of a high, and he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment.

Yukina laughed loudly. "Mommy?" She snickered more. "Listen, your mommy can wait. It's a dangerous world out there in the darkness. And I'm sure your dearest mother wouldn't want you dealing with the evil monsters that come out when the lights go off. She'll understand your need to stay with friends."

Yukina slipped a red pill into Takeru's mouth and kissed him again so he'd have no chance to spit the pill out. It was not long before Takeru's world was spinning more than it had ever spun before. He saw colors he'd never seen before. And that night, he had more fun than he'd ever had at any of his brother's concerts, more fun than any night spent in the digital world.

* * *

"I just don't understand it. Do you know what I mean, Takeru?" Hikari looked at him questioningly, her brows pulled up in the middle as an outward show of her inner turmoil and hurt. "He always acted like he liked me, like he really liked me."

Takeru sighed. He lay on his back on his bed with his hands behind his head. "No, I kind of get it," he finally replied. "But 'Kari, he was bound to give up some time, don't you think? You never reacted to his advances before."

Hikari hummed a little as she gazed down at him. "You're right. I'm just being a baby. It's like I don't want something until I can't have it." A corner of her mouth lifted in acceptance but dropped quickly due to her sorrow.

"Hikari," Takeru said firmly sitting up a small amount. "Listen, there are way better guys out there than Daisuke. Let me stress the 'way better.' Don't go for someone like Dai now. You are a beautiful girl, in and out, and you deserve someone who loves you for all of you and not just for the sex they hope they get from you."

Hikari smiled before lying on her back beside Takeru. "Thanks, Takeru." She sighed hugely. She rested her hand on Takeru's chest. "You have such a big heart. It's a good thing you were chosen for the crest and egg of hope. I don't think anyone else in this world could've dealt with it. I think you are the only person I know strong enough to keep going no matter the case."

Takeru said nothing, but he wasn't required to. Hikari let out a small giggle and continued anyway. "I'm being selfish though, talking all about my problems and romance. What about you, hmm? Is there any girl out there for you?"

Takeru shrugged noncommittally. "Probably not. All the girls from Yomato's concerts are bimbos with no brains. None of them have personalities." He thought of Yukina. And being tangled up in Sadao's arms. He didn't particularly remember much from the night before, but he remembered them. Sadao had said something Takeru had never thought of before. He was sure Sadao had insinuated that he was gay. Was he?

Hikari burst out in laughter. "I've never heard you say anything like that before, Takeru!"

_Yeah, well, I've changed,_ Takeru thought, but he said nothing.

"And speaking of your brother's concerts, what's up with your mom? She let you go out last night, but when I came in today, she said you were grounded, and I didn't need to stay long."

Takeru looked at her with an exasperated look on his face. "Was she nursing a hangover when she told you that?" he inquired heatedly. Hikari looked slightly taken aback, but then pity came onto her face. He didn't want to hear it. "Yeah, she's mad because I came straight home and went to bed. She said I should have called her, but I didn't." He took a breath, then, "She wasn't home when I got home! Why should I check in with her when she's out doing God knows what without letting me know anything? And don't even say anything, Hikari!" he snapped.

He completely left out the part where he left again and came home this morning feeling sore and sick himself. He as well neglected to tell her about his mother slapping him across the face at breakfast for his behavior. But it was unnecessary. His mom had said nothing to him about him being gone until morning. It was like she hadn't even noticed he was gone all night. She had just assumed he was in his room when she got home and went straight to bed. He was there when she awoke, and that was it. That's what he thought anyway. He sure as hell wasn't about to bring it up to her and find out.

Hikari sighed then smiled sadly. She squeezed Takeru's arm comfortingly. "You'll get through it. You always do."

"Yeah," he dead toned. "I always do." _Even if it takes a pill or two._

She squeezed his arm again. "I'm going to go home to work on my English paper. Best not make the absent tyrant angrier. I'll talk to you later."

Takeru smiled with her. "See you."

For the next few hours, Takeru moped around his house. He attempted to watch television at one point, but his mother unplugged it from the wall in hopes that he would "do something productive." But he had nothing to do.

He supposed he could do homework, but that was boring. He had no internet. Natsuko had taken that away from him too. In fact, she'd taken his entire laptop from his room. He couldn't even open his novel long recount of the digital world to read over it because he'd trashed the paper version in hopes that the file locked away on his computer would be all he needed.

Finally, he settled for opening up a battered old notebook and writing down a small memory he had of Patamon. Patamon had just hatched from his egg, and they'd had a bonding moment. That was back when he was happy, when positivity flowed from his every pore. It was easy to be hopeful then. He sometimes wondered what went wrong. Why was he so depressed all the time now? Was it because his best friend (who looked more like a plushie) was gone? He only assumed that after being the strong hope for everyone else for so long, it sort of wore on him that he didn't have anyone to hope for him.

It was in the middle of the memories and reminiscing that Yamato called.

"Takeru," his mother said quietly from the door. She looked stressed holding the cordless phone in a limp hand while the other was on her hip. "Your brother is the phone. Make it quick. I told him you were grounded."

He walked over to her to retrieve the phone. "Keep the phone with you though. I really need to finish this article."

He nodded and put the phone to his ear. "Hey," he said.

"_Well, she sounds particularly unbendable today." _

"You have no idea. She took away my computer."

"_Ouch. I guess that means you won't be able to go out with us then either." _

Takeru perked up a little at that. "Who is us?"

Yamato laughed. _"I thought you were grounded. You can't go anywhere."_

Takeru scowled viciously at the floor. "She won't even notice I'm gone, brother! She's too wrapped up in her work."

Yamato sighed. _"I'm not going to have you leave without telling Mom. Here, let me talk to her, and I'll tell her that you're just coming to Dad's house for the day." _

"Alright. Hold on a minute." Takeru pushed through his bedroom and stood at his mother's office door. The door was closed, and he had the internal feeling he should just not bother her. He flattened his hand on the door for a few moments before letting his fingers drop to work the door open.

"Mom…" The word barely fell from his lips when his mother looked up with an exasperated look on her face.

"Takeru, I'm working. I thought I already told you this." Takeru's eyes wondered to the smoking cigarette dangling from her hand. The gray swirls entranced him for a moment until they brought his gaze back to her face. She wasn't playing.

"Yamato wanted to talk to you," he murmured. He took a few steps forward and held the phone out to her.

She grabbed it and held it to her ear. "Hello?" Nearly instantly, she shot a look back at Takeru. Her silence seemed to stretch for miles. "Let me talk to Hiroaki." Takeru bit his lip. She never wanted to talk to their father. "Fine. Listen, Yamato. Takeru is grounded for not checking up on me last night. He's to not go anywhere at all, understand?"

Natsuko hung up the phone with a powerful jab of her finger and sat it down. She turned all of her focus to her computer, and then as if only just remembering her son was present, she twisted to look at Takeru and said, "Go."

He couldn't keep the grin off his face and as he turned to leave, he heard his mother shout, "Don't think you are getting away with not calling me last night!"

Takeru didn't reply. He just grabbed his bag from his room and ran.

He arrived at his dad's house in record time. Taichi was there. He, Yamato, and Hiroaki were eating pizza in the kitchen.

"Hey!" His dad offered the box to him, and he grinned appreciatively. He was a little jealous of his brother for getting the care-free parent.

"Hey, Dad," he said as he chose a smaller slice of the gooey cheesiness.

"No hello for us then?" Taichi teased with his mouth full.

Takeru winced at the sight. "Hello, Taichi. Hello, brother."

Yamato smiled largely at him. He pulled out a chair beside him for Takeru, and Takeru gladly took it. He was so happy to get around his mom's punishment. He thought he'd be stuck there all day.

Taichi and Hiroaki got along so well, Takeru thought. They cracked jokes constantly as they ate, and even got Yamato to talk girls to them. Takeru didn't say much, even through their prompting him. Instead he internally raged with jealousy.

Eventually, Yomato's dad yawned and stretched. "Hmm… I was asked to come up to the station after lunch today, so I guess I'll go do that. Yamato, can I have a word with you first?"

Taichi nudged Takeru's shoulder. "Come on, kid. Let's go pick out a movie to watch."

Takeru frowned but followed Taichi to the sitting room anyway. He watched as Taichi crouched in front of the movie shelf. The brunette hummed to himself as he searched through the movies one by one.

Takeru was distracted as he heard his name from the kitchen. He tried to listen in, but the conversation was too quiet to fully make out. It sounded as if it was getting a little heated though. His frown had turned to a scowl by the time he turned back to Taichi.

The football player was looking at him expectantly, holding up three movies. "Did you not hear me, Ta-ke-ru?" Takeru closed his eyes in annoyance as Taichi drew out the syllables in his name. "Horror movie, mindbender, or chick flick?"

"I personally would prefer mindbender. My day has been a strawberry shortcake so far. And being forced to watch a romantic comedy right now would be like throwing garlic on that delicious dessert. Please, I don't want any garlic today. And the horror movies these days are simply mindless gore. No point in them, at all. I want a brain stretch, if you don't mind."

Takeru and Taichi both blinked at Koushirou's sudden appearance. Then Taichi's grinned hard enough Takeru was sure his face would break. "Mindbender it is!" he yelled. He hurriedly put the other two movies away and started to work on shoving the movie picked into the DVD player.

Takeru narrowed his eyes as he noticed his brother walk back into the room. He heard the door shut. A few moments later, he heard an engine rev and a car drive off. "How about no movie?" Takeru said quickly. He turned on Yamato. "I thought you said we were going out? Let's go somewhere actually _fun_!"

Yamato's unease was easily spotted. Even Koushirou and Taichi seemed anxious at the question. It was a long moment before Yamato answered. He shifted from foot to foot, and at one point scratched his calf with his toe. He sighed. "Takeru, Dad thinks we shouldn't lie to Mom. If we told her you were only going to be here all day, then that's where you need to be."

Yamato must've noticed Takeru's attitude at this. "Listen, a movie with all of us isn't so bad," he continued. "We can still have fun here. I mean, Jyou won't be able to make it. He's studying tonight, but…"

"A movie is boring as hell," Takeru interrupted. "Don't lie. Watching movies is the last thing you guys would want to do on a normal night."

"Yama and I are always watching movies! When it's just us, anyway. You can have loads of fun at home, little man! Movies are great!" Taichi defended.

But Takeru just rolled his eyes. Koushirou took his turn. "Takeru, you don't need to start lying to your mother. It leads to a bad relationship between the two of you. You don't want that."

"Koushirou!" Takeru yelled. "My relationship with my mother is already a bad relationship. And that is completely normal. The only reason you have a decent relationship with your parents is because you're adopted, and you are all trying to just get over that."

Koushirou became quiet and took a step back from Takeru. Yamato's unease increased ten-fold. Taichi face formed a rather defined frown. Yamato looked like he wanted to say something, but Taichi beat him to it.

"That's uncalled for, Takeru."

Takeru twisted to unleash his anger on Taichi as well before the boy could even get anything else out. "You are not my older brother, Taichi! Stop acting like it! It's annoying! You're not even an influence on me because I simply don't care what you do or say. Get over yourself!"

"Takeru, stop! What's gotten into you?" Yamato, astounded at his baby brother's behavior, took a step toward Takeru.

"_Now_ you want to be my brother." Takeru rolled his eyes again, even as Yamato's mouth dropped open. "God, you aggravate me. Look, I'm going out. And you can call Mom or whatever. But I'm going to be fine, so no need to worry. I'm just going to have fun. Of course, I'll be in deep shit when I get back because Mom doesn't want me to have fun. But I'm fifteen! I'm entitled to have fun and get in deep shit."

And with that, Takeru turned his back on the now speechless three older males. He left them in the room alone and walked completely from the house.

It wasn't long later that he noticed Yamato had begun following him. Takeru wasn't even sure where he was walking to. He was just letting his legs do as they pleased. When he could no longer ignore his advancing brother calling out to him, Takeru took a back alley at a run. He successfully lost his older brother. But when he stopped running, he found himself lost.

Then Takeru came to a startling realization. He was at Old Lyon Street. A prostitute, or Takeru assumed she was, sat on a curb nearby. He stalked over to her and towered over her. The woman scowled at him. She was nowhere near as pretty as Yukina, but she seemed experienced.

"Can I help you?" she spat with a snotty attitude.

"I'm looking for Yukina," Takeru began.

"She's not here," the girl sniffed. It was at this point that she seemed to remember exactly what she herself was doing in the territory. "But perhaps I can help you out more than she'd be able to?" she purred.

Takeru didn't answer though. A familiar voice answered for him, and he felt shivers automatically take over his body at Sadao's rough tone. "I'll take this one, Fasha. He's mine." Takeru had never heard such a possessing voice before. Sadao smiled at him from behind the girl. He offered a hand out to Takeru. "I'll take great care of you, beautiful. What brings you back so soon?" It didn't take a second longer. Takeru found himself taking the hand and falling into the warmth of Sadao's arms.

* * *

**I can very easily say that I believe I am one of the few people in the world that has never done drugs. I've smoked a cigerette once, and I've drank a little bit of alcohol. I can honestly say I've never done any drug past that. I completely made all pills and effects used in this story up off the top of my head. Don't judge me if anything is exxagerated or not quite right. I do sincerely apologize if anything was anything less or more than realistic. **

**I hope I can rely on you readers for a reivew or two. :)**


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